Ceramic and glass bowls and dishes have long been used as dinnerware. Dinnerware refers to the tableware (plates, platters, bowls and the like) used in serving a meal.
Almost all quality dinnerware is made from a ceramic material coated with a glaze. A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic dinnerware is usually divided into four common fired grades. Earthenware is the most porous, and least vitrified. Stoneware is more durable and vitrified than earthenware. Porcelain is tougher and more vitrified than stoneware. Bone China is the toughest and most vitrified (most like glass) and can therefore be made utilizing the thinnest gage.
A general definition of ceramic as used herein is any of various hard materials made by forming and firing a non-metallic mineral, as clay. Crystalline ceramics encompass earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, and bone China. Non-crystalline ceramics encompass glass, which are melted and poured into molds.
Ceramic dinnerware can typically be made by molding or forming the material in a clay or paste form into the shape, and then firing or heating the material until it sets or hardens. Glass dinnerware is typically made by pouring molten glass into a mold, and allowing it to cool. The tolerances on these types of dinnerware are generally relatively large.